We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Sort of)
by Witch Bomb
Summary: The Spriggan 12 want to go back to Alvarez for Christmas. Zeref is having none of it.


**Author's Note: I'm sorry if anyone is OOC. I tried my best, but I think some characters definitely ended up being out of character.**

 **Also, merry Christmas!**

* * *

The airship descended on Magnolia. Below them, throughout the city, explosions and flashes of magic were clearly visible – even from all the way up here. Alvarez and Ishgar were truly at war.

However, through all the shouting and sounds of a battle raging on, he heard the voice.

"Hey! Zeref, get your ass down here!"

Zeref, emperor of the Alvarez Empire, peered over the railing from the deck of the airship. His dark eyes widened as he saw the frantically waving figure below – right where they were about to land the airship. He looked over his shoulder. _"Invel!"_ he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Invel appeared beside him. "Yes, your majesty?"

"Get Travis to land the ship – uh – somewhere else!"

"…We're detouring?"

"No! I mean land it in a different spot! We're going to land on top of him!" He pointed.

"Isn't he the enemy, your majesty?"

Zeref grabbed the collar of Invel's coat. "He's. My. _Brother!_ " He turned back and flailed his arms at the young man standing below them. "Natsu, move!"

Natsu lowered his arms, staring up uncomprehendingly at Zeref. "Huh?"

He cupped his hands around his mouth. " _Move!_ "

Natsu's eyes widened as he finally realized that an airship was about to land on top of him. "Ohhh…" He turned and ran as fast as he could.

Suddenly, the airship jerked backwards. Zeref grabbed the railing to keep himself from falling over. After a few seconds of hovering uncertainly, the airship floated to the ground and landed right in front of Natsu.

Hair disheveled, Zeref stepped off of the ship, trying to act as if he hadn't been panicking only a few moments ago. He turned to face his brother. It certainly wasn't where he had planned to fight Natsu, but it would do. "So, Natsu. I suppose this is where we finally–"

"Hold it, Zeref. I'm not gonna fight you."

Zeref blinked at him. But… Natsu had been so eager to fight him before. "…What?"

"I'm not gonna fight you," Natsu repeated.

"…Why not? Isn't that what you came here for? Weren't you planning to–"

"It's Christmas Eve," Natsu said bluntly. "When Igneel taught me history, he told me that in every war throughout history, all the fighting stopped for one night and one day on Christmas." He pointed to the horizon, where the sun was going down. "We should stop the fighting now and carry on from where we left off on Boxing Day."

Zeref stared at him blankly. "That's very nice, but we don't celebrate Christmas in Alvarez."

Above their heads, from the deck of the airship, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat. "Actually, your majesty…"

He looked up to see Ajeel and Invel standing by the railing of the ship, looking down at them.

"We decided we quite liked the idea of Christmas, and… well… we…" Invel trailed off, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Didn't you see us decorating the castle?" Ajeel asked.

"I thought it was just one of those confusing things that I see you lot doing all the time," Zeref replied.

"Nah, we were decorating for Christmas."

"We're sorry we never told you that we were planning on celebrating this year," Invel added.

Ajeel grinned. "We went out and got a turkey, too. Or maybe it was a duck. I forget. Whatever, those things are easy to kill, and Dimaria can gut them like a boss. Oh, right, and sorry about the glitter we put all over the floor. Serena insisted. And we got some mistletoe… just in case you wanted to bring Mavis along, y'know…"

Zeref turned bright red. "Ajeel," he said, trying to remain calm, "I can't even _see_ Mavis. And do you know what happened last time I kissed her?"

"No." Ajeel shrugged. "I just heard someone say that they heard you were a terrible kisser."

Just as he was opening his mouth to reply, Zeref heard voices, their owners quickly approaching. He turned to see Serena walking alongside the Four Gods of Ishgar, August and Jacob following closely behind them. Wait, but hadn't he sent the three of them to fight the Four Gods? Now they seemed almost like friends.

"So, d'you guys want to get a drink before me and the rest of the Zeref Squad head back to Alvarez?"

"I don't know," Jura answered. "Even if the war is supposed to be on hold for Christmas, we still have a hard time forgiving you for betraying us."

"Aww, can't we look past that for a couple of hours? It's Christmas."

"Of course!" Warrod replied. "I know some good places in Magnolia to get a drink. Let's go."

Serena turned to him, looking like he was about to cry tears of happiness. "Really?"

"No. That was a joke."

At that, Serena fell to his knees, and Zeref swore that a spotlight appeared over him as he rolled over onto his side on the ground. "Why does the world hate me?!" He sobbed.

"Is he okay?"

Zeref jumped at the sound of a voice speaking right in his ear. He turned to see Wahl staring at Serena.

"Wahl!" Zeref gestured to the chaos around them. "What's – why is everyone–"

"We're gonna take a break from fighting! For Christmas! Nobody told you?" He started laughing.

"We've never celebrated Christmas before."

"Never too late to start!" Wahl wandered over to Serena, who was still sobbing. He kneeled down and poked him. After a short conversation, both of them stood up and walked back over to the airship. "C'mon," he heard Wahl say as they walked past, "when we get home, we'll shove Dimaria and Brandish under the mistletoe."

"Not if we get you two first," Dimaria called, approaching the ship as well.

Brandish walked up to them, mumbling incoherently and rubbing her wrists. She turned to a blonde girl from the Fairy Tail guild – Zeref seemed to remember that her name was Lucy – who had been walking alongside her. "So, I have to go right back to the prison cell on Boxing Day?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep. That was the deal." She waved cheerfully as Brandish boarded the ship. "Have a nice Christmas!"

"You, too." Smiling slightly, she climbed the steps to board the ship.

"I hope you get some hair for Christmas." Jacob patted Jura on the shoulder as he walked past.

"I'm still going to get you back for that remark when the war resumes," Jura answered.

"Good luck with that!"

"We are much stronger than you," August explained. "Enjoy the short remainder of your lives."

"Chances are you won't last past Boxing Day," Ajeel shouted from the deck of the ship.

Zeref rushed up the stairs to the deck of the airship, followed closely by Bloodman, Neinhart, and one other Spriggan. He stared around in disbelief at the soldiers who were waiting to head back to Alvarez. The airship's pilot approached him.

"Your majesty, are we leaving now?"

"No," Zeref replied. "We are not going anywhere." As he spoke, his frustration gradually built. "Why is everyone coming back to the airship? This is a war – it's serious business – we can't take a break for Christmas of all things! We've never even cared about Christmas up until now! What's – why are we suddenly…" He trailed off, looking around to see everyone staring at him in stunned silence. This lasted for several long, awkward moments.

"Bah humbug," Wahl said in a poor imitation of Zeref.

Zeref blinked, confused. "…What?"

"Bah humbug," Wahl repeated, shaking his head. Grinning, Serena joined in the chant. "Bah humbug, bah humbug…"

"What are you even saying?" Zeref asked tiredly as Jacob joined in, followed by Ajeel, Dimaria, Neinhart, and then, surprisingly to him, Brandish.

"From what I've heard, "bah humbug" is a phrase commonly used by the main character of _A Christmas Carol,"_ Invel told him, trying to speak over the other Spriggans' chanting (the rest of them had joined in now, including the last one who had only just joined them and actually had no clue what was going on). "Apparently, he was known by other characters of the movie for his hatred of Christmas. I believe they are using the phrase to mock you, your majesty."

"…Oh." Zeref turned and stared blankly at the others. By this point, even the random soldiers whose names nobody bothered to remember were joining in. He turned back to Invel, only to find him missing.

Invel had moved so that he was as far away from the others as possible. "I refuse to have any part in this," he mumbled.

Zeref sighed. " _Okay!"_ Gradually, the chanting stopped. "We'll go back to Alvarez for Christmas. We'll have a party, or whatever it is you people want to do. But we're coming back on Boxing Day."

He had to cover his ears as everyone else on the ship cheered.

"Can we leave now, your majesty?" asked the pilot.

"Yes. We may leave now."

Below, the Ishgarians stood and watched as the airship ascended into the sky. By now, the sun was barely visible above the horizon; stars were beginning to appear above them. Natsu cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

" _Merry Christmas!_ "


End file.
